Rugby Australia boss to Japan: Prepare to host a different kind of fan at World Cup

May 07, 2019 | News On Japan

May 07, 2019 (Japan Times) - The CEO of Rugby Australia on Monday warned organizers of this yearâ€™s World Cup to be prepared to deal with spectators that can be more a little more exuberant than the typical Japanese fan.

Speaking with a group of exclusively Japanese media outlets at Rugby Australia headquarters in Sydney, Raelene Castle said Japanese are known for being orderly, lining up nicely and being calm and patient.

â€œThat is not true of international rugby fans who are coming from all around the world,â€ she warned.

A large number of that boisterous foreign contingent will be Australian, according to World Rugby, with fans from that part of the world purchasing 90,000 of the 1.8 million tickets sold for the Sept. 20 to Nov. 2 tournament to be played across 12 Japanese cities.

Traditionally, English fans, well known for their loud singing voices and ubiquitous all-white jerseys, make up the largest World Cup traveling contingent. Australians make up the next biggest group.

Castle said, however, that Japan has already passed one test, with the third Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand played in Yokohama last October proving a â€œvery good practice gameâ€ for the Rugby World Cup organizing committee.

With a little over four months before the worldâ€™s third-largest sports event kicks off, World Rugby has also endorsed Japanâ€™s preparations, saying the country is on track in its efforts to deliver rugbyâ€™s biggest show in Asia for the first time.

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